California's largest solar project, set to be built in the Mojave Desert five miles from the Nevada border, would supply power 140,000 homes. It's ready for approval except for one small problem--the desert tortoise.

The Ivanpah Solar Generating System is a 400-megawatt project that will span six acres, but BrightSource Energy cannot break ground in the abundant desert land until it can successfully relocate the two dozen desert tortoises found living on the site.

"Biologists that studied the site found 26 tortoises," said Keely Wachs, a spokesperson for BrightSource.

Currently the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is reviewing the company's plan to safely relocate the reptiles. Desert tortoises are endangered species under the federal Fish and Wildlife Endangered Species Act and reside in the desert lands of southern Nevada, Arizona and specifically in California. Because of their status as endangered, if one is found on the land, there must be a plan to relocate it.

"The desert tortoise has been our most concerned issue that we have faced in the regulatory process," said Wachs.
Although environmentalists are concerned about the fate of the desert tortoises, there are also huge economic and political factors tied up in the construction of the Ivanpah solar project.



The California desert is quickly becoming the new Mecca for renewable solar projects, like Ivanpah. However, because of the environmentally sensitive landscape, conflicts are quickly becoming commonplace.

"How do we manage this issue with climate change, and balance that with our need to protect the environment?" said Wachs. "I think we are working through that as a society and that is where you are seeing some tension."

Political forces drive projects like Ivanpah as Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger set a state mandate last year for electric utilities to provide 33 percent of their power from renewable sources--like solar energy. The Obama Administration also promotes large-scale, remote renewable projects in order to meet energy standards.

"Trying to promote large scale renewable energy development in areas that are most appropriate in terms of not significantly impacting biological diversity," is a major goal for the governor, said Tony Brunello, an energy spokesman for Governor Schwarzenegger.

"I think it is clear that everyone wants renewable energy and everybody is feeling the pressure," said Eric Solorio, a project manager with the California Energy Commission (CEC).

The Ivanpah project is one of more than 150 solar and wind applications currently vying for federal land with the BLM. Depending on the size and location, projects must be approved by both the California Energy Commission and BLM before breaking ground. The BLM has seen a surge in the number of solar applications, which grew from just a handful in 2006 to 46 in 2007.

"This is probably the last gold rush that we will ever see. This is what's going to replace the rush to petroleum, everybody's going to rush for solar," said Solorio. "There's a lot of money involved here, and therefore a lot of pressure for people to get on the ground."

The political pressure to increase renewable power and lower carbon emissions has strained the governmental agencies, statewide and nationally, to get appropriate projects approved faster.

RACE FOR STIMULUS MONEY

Projects like Ivanpah have a significant opportunity to take advantage of federal funds. In addition to more than $18 billion in stimulus money set aside for renewable energy projects, developers can also apply for California's 30 percent investment tax credit.

"The stimulus money also is really driving some of these projects," said Brunello. "A lot of the push comes from the private sector because some of the funding that's made available in that bill says that they have to start digging on a project--that's shovel ready by the end of next year."

With the stimulus money and tax credits combined, the CEC's Solorio said companies could see 80 percent of their costs covered.

"That would be huge to any developer. Yes I support renewable energy 100 percent," said Solorio, "but at the end of the day this is a huge business."

And if BrightSource can't break ground by next year, it might miss the 2011 cutoff to apply for stimulus money allotted for renewable energy projects.

Of the 159 renewable energy project applications, Ivanpah is only one of three in the advanced stages of the regulatory process.

"We haven't seen 95 percent of these projects--so no one is gong to be ready by next year," Solorio said. "At least the bulk of them are all going to miss the boat. The deadline is going to be extended."



MORE SOLAR, MORE LAND

And if more solar projects like Ivanpah keep applying for approval, regulatory agencies and energy companies will have to find more land to accommodate them.

"For renewables to get big enough, to make a difference, they're going to take up a lot of land," said Dr. Donald Paul, executive director of the USC Energy Institute.

Solar plants take up 4,000 to 6,000 acres compared to a traditional natural gas-fired plant that would take up 30 to 40 acres.

Schwarzenegger is supportive of the BLM's recent plan to pre-approve 670,000 acres of land across six states, including solar-rich California.

The "Fast Track Initiative" would designate large areas as prime zones for solar projects and conduct a preemptive environmental analysis, rather than approve the land project by project.

"If a company decided to build in this area identified for renewables, they would almost get a free pass, or be moved to the front of the line for environmental review," said Brunello. "They would flow much faster," he said of the approval process.

However, Senator Feinstein said the land should be protected. She plans to put legislation in motion to preserve 800,000 acres from the Mojave Desert to Joshua Tree. The legislation would designate the area a national monument and would protect wildlife habitats and animals that could be harmed if energy projects were constructed.

RELOCATING THE TORTOISE

Currently the BLM is reviewing the company's plan to relocate the desert tortoise--the last stage of the application before the project is given the green light.

Even a small relocation of tortoises is not so simple, according to U.S. Fish and Wildlife Services, who assisted with a relocation project of roughly 600 tortoises last fall at U.S. Army base Fort Irwin.

"We can't just pick them up and move them 50 feet over," said Roy Averill Murray of U.S. Fish and Wildlife. "Even with smaller scale operations--none of them are without risk."

And the timing also has to be right since the tortoises must be moved during the springtime because they go underground during the summer months.

"There will be no permission granted from the agencies to move them if the conditions are not right. I think it is potentially a scheduling problem," said Susan Sanders, a biologist working with the energy commission.

State officials and energy experts agree, large-scale solar projects are part of the solution to increasing renewable power in California--and Ivanpah is just the start.